


when I was an astronaut

by dirty_diana



Category: Iron Fist (TV), Luke Cage (TV)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Dragons, F/M, Flirting, Getting Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 22:04:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20571644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirty_diana/pseuds/dirty_diana
Summary: When Danny and Colleen get turned back into little kids by mysterious Hand magic, Ward and Misty team up to help. It gets weirder.





	when I was an astronaut

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sholio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/gifts).

> thanks to m for the beta.

Ward's phone is ringing, the screen reading "Danny" as it lights up. Ward picks it up without thinking, and blows on the hot coffee in his other hand.

The voice on the other end turns out to be definitely not Danny. "Meachum. It's Misty Knight."

"This is Danny's phone. Where's Danny?" Ward asks. It comes out maybe a little sharper than he means it to.

"He's right here. He's fine," Misty answers, in what Ward assumes is intended to be a calming tone. She mostly manages to sound matter-of-fact. "I'm with Danny and Colleen."

"He was talking about New Jersey," Ward says, remembering. He does mostly listen when Danny talks these days.

"Yeah, they've been working on chasing down that splinter Hand cell. They asked me for an assist. One of these mooks ran, so I wasn't actually in the warehouse when--"

She sounds like she's apologising for something. It isn't helping Ward's nerves. He swallows a gulp of coffee, scowling at the burn on his tongue. "Knight. Just tell me what's going on."

There's a pause. Ward's heart jumps in his chest. "It might be easier if I show you," Misty says finally. "Stand by." She hangs up the phone.

The photo he receives is shaky. Ward doesn't know what he'd expected, but it wasn't two children huddled together in a badly lit room. The little girl is Asian, her hair held back by braided pigtails. She is wearing a t-shirt that's a few sizes too big for her, and a leather jacket that Ward assumes is Misty's. The boy is white, and he too is swallowed up by an adult-sized hoodie that doesn't fit him.

Ward recognises the hoodie, and the tear at the wrist where Danny caught it in a car door in Ho Minh City. He recognises the curly hair sticking in all directions, and the scowl on the kid's face. Danny wore it almost every year for the annual Meachum-Rand photo, despite the cajoling of his mother and Wendell Rand's attempts at flat-out bribery.

The phone rings back immediately. "You get that?" Misty asks.

"Yeah," Ward says. "But you better tell me what the fuck I'm looking at."

"Like I said, I didn't see it happen. I came in, and they were like this."

"Hand still there?" Ward asks immediately, because even with the Rand robot arm Misty's just one person, with two little kids who probably can't defend themselves.

"They're gone. But they might come back, so I'm gonna need you to get here before that happens."

"You want me to come to _New Jersey_?" Ward asks. "Just bring them both here. Call an Uber. I'll pay."

"Yeah, these kids are--they don't know me, Ward. They are not going anywhere with me. You're going to have to get that expensive suit down here and give it a try."

Ward glances down at his suit and tie, then glares at the phone. "What makes you think they'll listen to me?"

"You've got a kid, don't you? Danny says you're good with him."

Ward feels an unexpected flush of self-consciousness. He pushes it away. "Yeah, but he's ten months old. Not a lot of negotiating skills required yet."

"It's more experience than I've got," Misty admits. She raises her voice, talking to someone else. "Hey, Danny. You want to see your friend Ward?"

"Yeah!" Danny calls out, with the tremulous, high-pitched excitement that Ward remembers clearly. "Where's Ward?"

Ward sighs, but he can respect a winning play even when it's dirty. "I'll be right there."

*

The driver that takes him into the Holland tunnel doesn't say anything when they pull up to an indistinct brick and concrete warehouse. Ward enters the building by himself, barely dodging the bionic arm that's aimed straight towards him.

Misty pulls back her metal fist just in time. "Here's a tip," she says. "Announce yourself when you're entering a creepy ninja den. If I didn't know any better, I'd think maybe you liked getting punched in the face."

"Depends who's doing the punching," Ward says without thinking.

Suddenly Misty is giving him an amused smile that quirks her mouth and light up her eyes. "Is that right?" she asks.

Ward doesn't have time to think of a quip. A small, lightning-fast body comes out of the shadows from behind Misty and barrels into Ward, nearly knocking him over.

"Ward!" Danny's curly hair is hanging in his face, and he blinks up at Ward through the fringe. A scowl descends onto his small face. "You're not Ward."

Ward glances up at Misty, who shrugs. "I think from their perspective, it's still the 90s," she says. "I tried explaining, but--"

"You just sounded like a crazy lady," Ward guesses. 

Misty nods.

Danny's face is beginning to turn cherry red, and Ward knows from long ago experience what that signals. He kneels down.

"Whoa. Danny, don't cry, okay? Shit."

"I want my mom," Danny tells him.

Ward takes a breath before answering. "Yeah, I know. I'd get her for you if I could, but I can't. But I'm really Ward. I'm your friend."

That doesn't make Danny look any less likely to burst into tears. His face screws up. "If you were Ward, you'd know he doesn't even want to be my friend. He says I should stop following him around like a big dumb baby."

And yeah, okay, that does sound like something Ward had probably said to Danny a few hundred times. Ward winces. He is suddenly very aware of Misty watching him closely. "I'm sorry I said that," he says, the apology foreign and strange-tasting. "I do want to be your friend, Danny."

And then, because Danny still looks hesitant, he adds, "Hey, remember the time we ran away from the babysitter and hid in Central Park for the whole day?" The babysitter had been fired, and Ward had gotten a memorable beating, but Ward doesn't think Danny has to know any of that.

"Where in Central Park?" Danny asks him. From the suspicion still lurking in his eyes, it's a test.

"By that stupid merry-go-round you like. We got ice cream, and you got it all over your shirt, and Joy lost one of her shoes."

Danny's eyes widen. He reaches out, and his small fingers scrape along Ward's stubble. "You're old, Ward," he said.

Ward ignores Misty's amused chuckle from somewhere behind him. "Yeah, well. You're going to get old too. There's just a bit of a mixup right now. In, uh. Time? Like in Back to the Future."

"Is that why my mom can't come?" Danny asks. 

Ward nods. Then he looks around, frowning. He shot a glance at Misty. "ai thought Colleen was here too?"

"She's here." Misty sighs, turning back towards the darkened corner she'd been hiding in. "Colleen!"

Danny glares at her unhappily. "Wobbly doesn't like shouting."

"Who the fuck is Wobbly?" Ward asks Misty.

"Oh, you're going to love this," is all Misty says.

Colleen finally emerges from the shadows. She's still wearing Misty's jacket. Her tiny arms are crooked to cradle a small green bundle. Ward squints at it, realising that the package Colleen carries is alive, and moving.

The small heap spreads out a limb, making a flapping noise with the exposed wing.

"You could have mentioned the dragon," Ward says, after a long silence.

"Didn't actually see it until after I called you. I guess this is what the Hand was chasing, but Danny didn't really explain it to me when he asked for my help." Misty shrugs. "Would have thought dragons usually came in a larger size, to be honest with you."

For all that Danny often won't shut up about dragons, Ward has done his best not to think about what they might look like, or what size they might be. This one fits easily in Colleen's small arms. She looks younger than Danny, though Ward couldn't begin to guess how young that makes her now. She still hasn't spoken. 

"Hi," he says.

Colleen is quiet, staring at him.

Ward racks his brain trying to remember what he knows about Colleen's childhood. It isn't very much. Her brown eyes are large and mistrustful. Ward tries again, a halting greeting in the little Mandarin that he knows.

Colleen's only reaction is a cool, withering gaze.

"Yeah," Misty says, swallowing a wry chuckle, "I think she just doesn't like to talk."

Ward has no idea what to do with that. He isn't great at making conversation with adult Colleen, let alone this tiny version. Danny speaks, pulling on Ward's pant leg.

"Can we go home?" he asks. "Maybe my mom will be there."

Joy had sold the brownstone. Ward has no idea who lives in it now. "Don't think we can do that," Misty says to him, after another awkward pause. "But I know somewhere much cooler, okay? We can all go."

"Okay." Danny reaches up, and takes Ward's hand.

*

They all pile into the car, with Misty, Danny, and Colleen in the back seat. Danny whispers something in Colleen's ear, and she nods. Ward's given up his own jacket to camouflage the small dragon as best they can, but the driver is still staring sceptically in his rearview mirror.

Ward takes two hundred-dollar bills out of his wallet and laid them on the dashboard. The driver gives him a sidelong glance, then nods.

*

Ward has never met Luke Cage. He eyes the man's thick, crossed forearms, and stands well back as Luke and Misty continue their argument.

"This is not a daycare," Luke Cage says. He's standing in his nightclub office, glaring at Misty.

Misty shakes her head. "I live in a co-op full of nosy assholes. If I bring home two little kids and a miniature dragon, someone's going to call the cops."

"You are the cops," Luke points out. Misty rolls her eyes.

"My condo's just not ninja-proof," Ward says, butting in.

"Ninjas," Cage mutters unhappily. "Well, Harlem's Paradise definitely isn't kid-proof."

He shoots another annoyed look at Ward, then at the space under his desk, where Danny and Colleen are busy building a nest for the dragon. The dragon makes a soft whistling noise, snout flaring, and Colleen whispers something to Danny.

Danny nods. "I'll be right back," he says to her, before getting to his feet and going over to where Luke and the other adults are standing. "Mister Luke? I think Wobbly's still cold."

Cage sighs, looking at the small pile of jackets on the floor underneath his desk. He leans over, grabbing his own jacket off the back of his chair and handing it to Danny. "Wobbly can have this. As long as he doesn't pee on it."

Danny lights up. "Thanks, Mister Luke."

Luke watches as Danny returned to the nest underneath his desk. He sighs, shaking his head. "I can't believe there's a real fucking dragon. And I'm kinda surprised to see you here." Luke turns to Misty. "After the speech I got last time."

"Don't think I changed my mind," Misty answers flatly. "You've got no business running this place."

"Someone's got to do it," Cage says.

Misty stares at him, her eyes going unexpectedly hard. "That's not true, and even if it was, it doesn't got to be you."

He's in the middle of something here, except Ward doesn't quite know what it is. He coughs, drawing their attention. "If Danny and Colleen are safe here for now, maybe we can get started on figuring out what happened. And how to undo it."

"That dragon better not burn my establishment down," Luke says.

*

They call one of Cage and Misty's friends, who shows up right away. She's a nurse of some kind, and the stiff way that she holds herself when she looked at the club owner suggests that, really, Ward is standing in a room full of women who are mad at Luke Cage. Which is more awkwardness than Ward can take, so he speeds out of there as fast as he can.

He paces the sidewalk for a bit. He gets curious looks from the pedestrians, who all immediately look away. Which makes sense. Danny's talked about this place. The neighbourhood probably figures that a white guy in a nice suit hanging out at Harlem's Paradise in the middle of the day isn't up to anything they want to know about.

Sometime after the third little old lady glares and gives him a wide berth on the street, the door swings open. Misty emerges.

"So this is where you went," she says mildly, coming to stand beside him. "Everything okay?"

Ward looks sideways at her. He's not sure what signs he's giving off that he's giving off that he's _not_ okay, but he can tell by her brown eyes that she's clocked his mood, and there's no point denying it. Finally he says, "Seeing Danny like this. It's a lot. Like walking through a goddamn album of childhood photos."

"Not a fan of photos, or of childhood?" Misty asks.

Ward makes a dismissive movement with his shoulders. There doesn't seem any point to mentioning that his childhood was shit, and anyway it's not what's really on his mind. He can't stop thinking about Danny growing up in K'un Lun, and how all Ward knows about that are the stories that Danny tells. Which Ward suspects are heavily edited. 

Maybe if he had to do the childhood thing all over again, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

He says this to Misty, who just looks at him. "You think Danny would agree with that?" she asked.

"Probably not."

The plainest fact was left unspoken. The thing that had changed Danny's childhood the most couldn't be fixed. 

"Besides," Misty said, "who would he live with? You?"

If it came to it, Ward thought, but he didn't say it out loud. 

"So," Ward says, mostly to distract himself. "What's the story with you and Cage?"

Misty makes a noncommittal gesture. "Known each other awhile. Met him right here, actually. We stopped New York from sinking to the centre of the Earth together. You know, the usual."

"Hmmn." Ward makes a noise.

"What's hmmn?" Misty mimics his grunt with a bubble of amusement.

"Just wouldn't have thought Cage was your type."

"Is that something you're taking notes on? My type?" 

He smiles at her a little, and notes the way that her eyes brighten in response. "You never know what I might need to know later."

"Later, huh." Misty's still smiling. When the door creaks open they both jump, as they've been caught at something secret.

*

Claire calls them upstairs, where she's letting Colleen sit on her lap. Colleen still isn't saying much, but she's looking a little less wary than she has all day. Her eyes still track the conversation from adult to adult, as Claire says, "They're both in perfect health. Danny's about eight, we think, and Colleen's six. Nothing wrong with their health for that age."

"You're sure?" Ward can't help asking.

Clare's look softens when she sees the expression on his face. She bounces Colleen a little in her lap, and Colleen's musical laughter breaks the tension. "Yeah, I'm as sure as I can be without a full body scan. They seem like normal, healthy little kids. You don't have any idea how they got--"

Danny interrupts her. He holds out the small dragon, and Claire manages to make a pleased, curious face, as if little kids try to give her their pet dragons every day. "Miss Claire? Is Wobbly going to be okay?"

Claire nods, but she looks uncertain. "I'm not a dragon nurse, to be honest with you, Danny."

"Just check," Danny pleads, and yeah, there's the kid that Ward remembers, that got his way almost all the time.

Obediently Claire holds her stethoscope to Wobbly's heaving underbelly. Then she checks his temperature. She pronounces his heart rate to be 216 beats per minute, and his temperature to be 78 degrees. Danny listens to all this very seriously, even though they have nothing to compare it to, and accepts it as a clean bill of health.

"Thanks, Miss Claire."

Wobbly snuffles. Danny pets him, and his scales seem to shift colour a little under the harsh office lights.

"I really don't know anything about dragons," Claire whispers to the other adults. "Maybe you should find someone who does? It could be important."

"That's a good idea," Misty agrees.

Cage shakes his head. "Where are we going to find a dragon expert? Probably can't just plug that into Yelp."

Ward sighs. The entire room turns to look at him, including Wobbly. Colleen's eyes narrow a little now that Ward is speaking, and Ward supposes he shouldn't be surprised that Colleen doesn't trust him at any age. "I think I know one. That is, Danny and Colleen know him. He's still right here in New York."

"Well, shit," Misty says.

*

Ward wasn't sure what he was expecting from the mysterious high-security Stark-built meta-crime facility in Queens. It definitely wasn't Davos in a small, walled garden, sweeping up fallen leaves.

"I thought this guy was in prison," Ward said. He couldn't quite keep the growl out of his voice.

"It is a prison. Not like he can just leave whenever he wants."

Ward looks towards Colleen and Danny, trailing behind them on short legs. Misty had flushed her badge and whispered something, and the guards at the front had let all four of them through without hesitating. "Maybe we shouldn't have brought them."

"Danny comes here all the time," Misty points out. It doesn't make Ward feel any better. He's starting to get a little exhausted by Misty's dry reasonableness, and she seems to pick up on it, throwing him a smile that still leaves no room for argument.

They guide the kids to a bench near the entrance. Danny's still holding Wobbly, once again masqueraded under Ward's favourite jacket. Ward gives Colleen his phone. Her expression eases slightly when he shows her how to play Tetris on it, staring in fascination at the animated blocks.

Misty says, "Stay here. Danny, you're in charge, okay?"

Ward gives her a glare. Leaving Danny in charge when they were younger always ended in bruises and broken china, and reminders that Ward wasn't supposed to have left the younger kids alone. 

"Okay," Danny says. Colleen nods vigorously with him.

By this time, they've been noticed. Davos puts down his rake, meeting them in the middle of the blustery yard. His face is a dark scowl, but then, Ward's never seen him look any other way. He's dressed in a prison uniform of a grey shirt and pants with scuffed sneakers. Up close, Ward can see the way he seems ready to leap towards them. This place might have guards and high-tech defenses, but that doesn't mean Ward has to like being this close to him. 

Instinctively Ward puts a hand on Misty's arm. Her prosthesis, he realises when he makes contact with it. Misty gives him an amused look before shaking him off. Ward's starting to wish they'd brought the invincible guy, but Luke had insisted he had important business in Harlem.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't even hear that," Misty had muttered, picking Colleen up from underneath Luke's desk. Colleen stared in fascination at Misty's hand.

"What have you done?" Davos is staring across the garden at Danny, in something close to shock. Ward barely resists the instinct to jump in front of Danny. Just because Davos doesn't have the Iron Fist any more doesn't mean his regular fists aren't still lethal.

Misty raises her eyebrows. "Hello to you too."

Davos ignores her, still staring. He still looks shaken for a second, before he covers it with a glower. Of course, Ward thinks. The guy grew up with Danny too. Across the garden Danny feels the gaze and looks up, squinting curiously at the man who, from his perspective, is a stranger. 

"Where is the dragon?" Davos hisses, still hostile. "Have you hidden it well?"

"Whoa, wait. How did you know about the dragon?" Ward asks.

Davos gives him a withering look which suggests he thinks the question is too stupid to be worthy of an answer, but he responds anway. "It's obvious. The ritual of Shendu requires the dragon of Shendu, but the Hand will be after it. You cannot let them--" 

Behind Ward, the dragon on Danny's lap must move, or flap its wings or something, because Davos' face goes even darker.

"You brought it here?" he asks, anger and disbelief barely bridled.

"Relax. The Hand doesn't know we're here," Ward says, just as Misty speaks.

"Tell us more about this ritual." She's slipped into interrogation mode, her face cool and focused, with an intent gaze.

If he's being honest with himself, which is something he's working on, Ward finds it pretty hot. Davos doesn't look cowed. 

"The ritual of Shendu restores innocence," he says. "The dragon  
slipped away from the Hand years ago, and the rumours were that it had ended up in this dimension. But no one knew for certain."

"Can it be reversed?" Misty asks. She's still concentrating on getting answers, but Davos isn't paying attention anymore.

Ward turns in the direction of Davos' gaze to see the dragon flutter its wings to fly off Danny's lap and under the bench. Danny chases it, laughing.

"The Hand will take advantage of the opportunity to wipe out the Iron Fists," Davos said. He almost manages to sound like he hasn't tried to kill Danny and Colleen himself when he says it. "In addition to being after the dragon."

"Seriously. The Hand doesn't know where we are," Ward repeats.

Davos' face still wears a pinched, unimpressed expression. "The Hand is an old organisation, but they've taken to modern technology. Have you checked the dragon for a tracking device?" 

Ward looks at Misty before squinting more closely at the dragon. There's nothing visible, but that doesn't mean one hasn't been hidden under the dragon's reptilian skin.

"Shit," Ward says. 

That's when chaos breaks out.

*

There's a bang, and then the irritated sound of sirens as the StarkTech senses a breach in the perimeter. Except it's not something trying to get out, but something trying to get in as dozens of Hand goons pour through over the wall, barely seeming to notice the harsh shock it gives them all as they cross its apex and land in the garden.

Ward looks around desperately. He doesn't have his gun on him, or ninja training, or anything that would be remotely helpful, but he grabs Davos' discarded rake and brandishes it in the direction of the intruders. Davos has already curled both his fists, taking a gleeful swing at the nearest ninja.

Misty readies her metal hand in a hard fist. She pulls her sidearm free with her other hand. "Grab the kids!" Misty yells. 

Ward is already in motion. He dives for the bench Danny and Colleen are sitting on, and drags them into a small, thick-walled entryway that leads back into the building. The door, programmed to expect fleeing prisoners going in the other direction, is locked tight. The siren sound is coming from somewhere right over their heads. Colleen puts her hands over her ears as she huddles against his side.

"Sir?" she asks, speaking to him for the first time. "What's happening?"

Ward tries to sound reassuring. "Just some bad guys. They're after Wobbly, alright? But Misty and Davos are going to make them go--Jesus fuck, Danny, stay here."

He yanks on Danny's collar, forcibly pulling him back into the sheltered area. In front of them Davos has taken two Hand with a gardening trowel. Colleen gasps in what sounds more like awe than horror.

"But you said they're after Wobbly," Danny protests. "He's over there."

Ward looks. He spots Wobbly a few feet away, cawing nervously behind a flowerless bush. Ward doesn't give a shit about the dragon. Except the Hand wants the dragon, and Ward's knows from first-hand experience that whatever they are planning to do with it is probably awful. He also knows that the last thing Danny was trying to do was stop them.

Ward sighs. He hands Danny the rake, which is at least twice as tall as him. "If anyone comes this way, you hit them with the sharp parts, okay? In the balls. Colleen, you're going to help him." 

Colleen nods determinedly. Danny looks terrified, but he takes the rake and grips it in his small hands. 

Ward takes a deep breath and shakes his head. Then he makes a dash for Wobbly. He's just about got the squirming creature in his arms when one of the Hand flies into his field of vision and wallops him squarely in the face. Ward goes down, keeping a grip on Wobbly despite the alarmed flap of dragon wings.

"Leave him alone!" a small voice shouts. That's definitely Danny, except it just makes Ward worry that Danny's about to charge in despite being all of three feet high right now.

A second ninja has leapt into this squabble, trying to pull Wobbly out of his hands. The small snout pushes against the new hands, which suddenly retreat with a horrified yelp. Someone got bitten, Ward thinks in woozy satisfaction. 

Someone kicks him. Ward loses his grip on Wobbly. He thinks he must be passing out, because it's getting dark around him. Except that's not his head, Ward realises after a moment. It's the sky above them, half the New York skyline blotted out by the dark shape of a giant dragon.

Ward realises he's not holding Wobbly anymore. Instead the dragon is looming over him, swollen to a size bigger than a house.

All the Hand thugs have broken off fighting, looking up in stunned silence. Misty appears by Ward's side, leaning down to help Ward stand.

"Is that what I think it is?" Misty asks.

Davos has appeared on Ward's other side, muttering something about the dragon of Shendu's true form.

Wobbly seems to take a giant, shuddering breath. Ward dashes for the kids, covering them as best he can while Misty does the same. Ward ducks his head, reflexively closing his eyes. There's a huge puff of air that makes the trees in the yard creak, but none of the burning heat Ward was expecting. He opens his eyes again.

All the Hand have disappeared, including the bodies Davos dropped during the fight.

"I thought dragons breathed fire," Ward says.

Davos grimaces. He still looks tense from the fight. "The dragon of Shendu's weapon isn't fire. It's reality."

"That explains exactly nothing," Misty grumbles.

Danny steps towards him. Colleen is beside him, tightly clinging to Danny's hand. "Ward?"

"Danny," Davos says. He sounds faintly relieved. It's so surprising that Ward stares at him for a moment before moving closer to Danny.

"I'm here, Danny. Wobbly's fine, see?"

The dragon is still hovering in the sky, blithely oblivious to the chaos it must be causing on the street.

"The bad guys are gone. Everything's fine." Except Ward still doesn't know what he's going to do with a child-sized Danny, or his kindergarten-aged girlfriend. One problem at a time, he thinks resolutely. "We're going home now."

There's the loud, in stereo wheezing noise that heralded Wobbly's last breath. Ward flinches and ducks again, just in case. Cool, exhaled air rocks the garden.

When Ward looks up again, Colleen and Danny are standing in front of him, wearing confused expressions and the shirts that barely come to their hips.

Wobbly shrinks down again. He lands on the garden pathway, lazily blinking up at them.

*

They bring Danny and Colleen to their apartment. The driver doesn't say anything about the two embarrassed, half-naked adults in his back seat, or the squirming handful of dragon. Ward tips him two more hundreds, just in case. They'd left Davos at the detention centre, where he'd been scowling, berating Danny for chasing the dragon of Shendu without proper preparation.

*

Misty shuffles around Danny and Colleen's kitchen, filling a kettle with water. "You want tea?" she asks, retrieving empty cups from the cabinet.

"Ugh. No."

Misty smiles a little. "Yeah, I'm not a fan either. But these two don't own any coffee."

"We could go find some," Ward says.

Misty looks at him. "Just you and me?" she asks, which is when Ward plays back the conversation and realises how his off-hand offer sounded out loud.

"Sure?" he says.

The crooked, amused line of Misty's mouth is threatening to break into outright laughter. "Didn't mean to bully you into it."

"Maybe I'm just giving you time to think things over before you regret it."

"Let me worry about that," Misty says, looking straight at him. Ward wants to squirm. He wants her to keep looking.

There's a cough. Ward looks up, and Danny's standing there in a shirt and jeans with no shoes, looking sheepish.

"So," he says.

"So," Ward returns. Misty has somehow drifted to the other side of the apartment and fallen deep into conversation with Colleen. "How much of that do you actually remember?"

Danny scrunches up his nose. "Most of it, I think? But it's faint. Feels as if it happened forever ago."

Ward nods. He's gotten a lot of practice at not thinking about when he was a kid, and having to break the hard shell seal on his memories was something he'd rather have not had to do. But just maybe it's worth it for Danny standing here in the kitchen, beaming at him.

"Were we really friends when we were kids?" Danny asks. "I always thought maybe you just wanted me to go away." 

"Of course we were," Ward says. His voice is gruff. He looks down, and spots Wobbly teetering around the floor. "Here's a question. What are we going to with the dragon?"

"Keep it?" Danny says. 

"Yeah, he seems to like us," Colleen says, coming up from behind Danny to hold his hand. She doesn't look at Ward directly, but her posture isn't that hostile either.

"You're going to keep a reality-bending dragon? In your apartment. What if he decides to poof you all out of existence?" Misty asks. 

"Exactly," Ward agrees with fervor.

"Who else is going to keep it?" Danny asks them. He smiles. "Besides, I think Wobbly likes us."

The kettle starts whistling. Ward makes a grab for it, and burns himself on the handle, swearing. Wobbly shifts his tiny wings against Wards foot. The pain seems to ease right away.

*

Ward and Misty don't actually get coffee. They make plans to, two days later, but instead end up in Ward's apartment, tangled in the sheets. Misty's skin is warm and soft beside his. It hadn't been his plan, but he'd looked at her when she'd walked in, and realised he didn't want to wait any longer. Misty's flesh hand had tangled impatiently in his clothes, as if she'd been thinking the same thing. 

"I could order us some coffee," Ward suggests easily. Her hair tickles her nose, smelling of something nutty. "There's a sandwich place on the corner."

On cue, Misty's stomach growls. They both end up laughing. "Sorry," Misty says, when she can breathe again. "I skipped lunch."

"So did I," Ward admits. He'd been working, except mostly he'd been distracted, thinking about Misty, and the way she rolls her eyes when she thinks he's said something stupid. He leans over the edge of the bed, pulling his phone out of the pants that are laying on the floor. "So. Sandwiches?"

"Yeah," Misty says."I'd like that."


End file.
